This invention relates generally to a novel hand gun holster. More particularly, this invention relates to an improvement in holsters of the type used for carrying revolver type pistols. The holster of the present invention will find particular usefulness in instances where it is desired to support a hand gun between the belt or trouser waistband and the body of the wearer.
The present invention is an improvement in the holster of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,336 to Dickey. Holsters of this type are used to support hand guns used by undercover police agents who desire to carry such weapons out of view in a most inconspicuous manner as possible. Most typically, the hand gun will be supported under the belt or waistband of the trousers of the wearer, that is, between the waistband of the trousers and the body.
In the past, holsters have been used which engage only the barrel portion of revolver type hand guns. These holsters would comprise a strap, an S-shaped belt clip which would attach to the strap, a cylindrical, barrel-receiving loop, and a shield or guard which is attachable to a portion of the loop. The hand gun could be placed in the holster by inserting the barrel of the gun into the loop until further downward movement would be arrested by either the trigger guard of the hand gun or an enlarged portion of the barrel coming into contact with the loop. Typically the loop would be only slightly larger than the diameter of the barrel of the gun and would extend along a portion of the barrel a distance much less than the length of a conventional hand gun barrel.
In the holster disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,336 referred to above, an S-shaped clip is inserted through a slot in the strap of the holster, and the clip is intended to engage the belt or waistband of the trousers. The S-shaped clip is apparently of fixed geometry and, hence, may accommodate users whose belts and/or trousers are of standard thickness. That is, such an arrangement may be quite unsatisfactory if the wearer were to use a very thick belt or if the wearer were to attempt to carry a gun while wearing less conventional clothes.
Moreover, inasmuch as a variety of revolver designs are available for use by police officers, it is possible that certain revolvers would sit either too high or too low in the holster and, hence, might not be conveniently used by a police officer engaged in undercover work. Furthermore, if the hand gun rested in an uncomfortable position against the body or underclothes of the wearer, the only alternative available under the prior art would be to move the holster to a new circumferential position on the belt or waistband. That is, the holster could not be adjusted upwardly or downwardly at a desired location along the belt or waistband.
The holster disclosed in the above referenced patent utilizes a strap having a horizontal slot into which the S-shaped clip is inserted. It may be found that after a period of time, this slot may rip or tear by virtue of the forces imposed upon it by the S-shaped clip. It is believed that such a slot represents a weakened area in the strap and may result in undesirable consequences after repeated use.
Moreover, it may be found that the S-shaped clip has a tendancy to tear the underclothes or scratch the skin of the user.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a hand gun holster which is not susceptible to tearing along a surface of the strap or to a tearing of underclothes or a scratching of the user. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a hand gun holster which could readily be adjusted upwardly or downwardly at a fixed location along a belt or trouser waistband of the wearer and provide a means for adjustment to facilitate the comfortably carrying of a hand gun at a desired circumferential position along a belt or trouser waistband.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a novel improvement in a hand gun holster which minimizes or reduces the problems of the type previously noted.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a novel hand gun holster which is adjustable to accommodate hand guns of varying dimensions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel hand gun holster which may be positionally adjusted at a given location along a belt or trouser waistband of the wearer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel hand gun holster which may be carried by any thickness of belt or trouser waistband.
A hand gun holster according to a preferred embodiment of the invention intended to substantially accomplish the foregoing objects includes a substantially smooth leather support strap adapted to be vertically positioned between a trouser waistband and the body or underclothes of a wearer of the trousers. A metal plate is integrally formed with the support strap for bending a portion of the support strap into a downward depending hook in order to engage a belt or waistband of the trousers. A barrel-receiving loop is carried by the support strap for supporting the hand gun. This loop is operable to receive only the barrel portion of the hand gun and provides essentially the only support for the hand gun.
There are other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention which will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals have been applied to like elements, in which: